Industrial electronics
What if…
What If Inverters Had No Dead Time?
What if an inverter switched both transistors at the exact same instant?
Quick check · tap an answer to continue
Lesson notes
Key points
- Real transistors turn off slower than they turn on, so both briefly conduct together.
- That overlap creates a near short across the DC bus, a huge current spike called shoot-through.
- Within microseconds the switches overheat and can fail destructively, so drivers insert dead time.
Takeaway: Dead time keeps both switches in a leg from conducting at once.
Quick check: Why do inverter gate drivers add a short delay between switch transitions?
- To raise output voltage
- To prevent shoot-through
- To reduce output frequency
Dead time lets one switch fully turn off before its leg partner turns on.
Turn-off delayShoot-throughDead time
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